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H. B. SNELL.

WIRE aerwmc MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLEDMAY I8, 1916.

1,316,257. PatentedSept. 16,1919.

2 SHEET8-SHEET I.

mnntoz HARRY 5.5NELL W damn, I

H. B. SNELL.

WIRE BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man MAYIB, 1916.

1,316,257. PatentedSept. 16, 1919.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'IIIII/IIIIII/IIIIIII bending "device or machine,

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE. I

HARRY B. SNELL, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 CURTISS AEROIELANE AND MOTOR CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WIRE-BENDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY B. SNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Bending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to aircraft factory equipment and more particularly to wire bending machines which first indent, and subsequently bend or loop the wire to an extent determined by revious adjustment of the machine. The c aracteristic of the invention is the use of an abutment and a lever on the one hand and a mandrel and a lever on the other; the levers, in the bending of the wire, being moved in sequence so that the indenture will first be made, with the loop immediately following. In the manufacture of aeroplanes a large quantity of high rade wire is used; piano. wire being preerred. Such wire, by reason of its grade and high resiliency cannot, except with difficulty, be bent or shaped without the use of appropriate wire bending or wire forming machines. By the present invention it is proposed to so construct the wire bending machine and so arrange the various levers and abutments that one or more loops or eyes of a given size and form may be separately formed in piano wire through movement of the levers independently. Furthermore, adequateprovision is made for such adjustment as will enable wires ofdifierent gage and loops of differentsiz'e to berespectively worked and formed.

Of the drawings, 3 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the wire Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate in plan the various positions assumed by the levers in bending the wire, r

Fig. 4. is a section onthe line4.4 of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating partly in section and partly in elevation the ratchet adjusting means, and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified type of machine.

By way of example the various elements of the machine areshownas mounted upon a bed or table 1 of a given form. The size and form of this table is immaterial. Upon it is mounted a plate 2 having-one end cut awayas at 3 and 4, adjacent which end and Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept-Q16, 19 19, Application filed May 18, 1916. Serial No. 98,344.

afi'ords' an axis about which the lever is moved but also a fastening means, together w1th pins 9, for removably fastening the dog 1n place. From the pivot 10 to the remote dog extremities the distance is at variancej Either end of the dog, according to its placement with respect tothe lever 6,.

end and may be used as the wire engagin indenture forming element of t e device. The'end 11 in Fig. 1, however, is shown as the active end. 'By placing the shortiend of the dog toward the abutment 7, wire of larger size can be bent. -At the end of the table 1 and slightly removed from the end of the plate 2, a mandrel, designated in its entirety by the numeral 13 is disposed. This mandrel (see Fig. 4) is of a construction such that loops of different size may be formed by bending the wire around it. To

this 'end it is made small at 14? and large at 15. Further adjustment may be made if desired. An'exteriorly threaded bearing 21 integral with thelever 5 is'used as a guide for the mandrel 13 and as a bearing for said lever. It" is provided with an enlarged end and a shank, the former engagingvthe top surface of the bed or table 1 and the latter in an opening toextend beneath the table where it is locked, or rather fastened, by means of a nut or equivalent means.

The end of the mandrel remote from that portion acting as a lug about which the wire is looped, is extended aS at 20. To this extended end a lever 22 is pivoted as at 24. This lever, intermediate its ends, is fulcrumed and at'its opposite end pivoted to an adjusting ratchet 25 having its upper portion-extended above the table 1 through an opening .27. The teeth 26 of'the ratchet engage the table at a point 26 and by this engagement lock the mandrel against vertical pivot. This is possible and in fact desirable since the axis of the mandrel and the axis about which the lever pivots should coincide. The dog 16 is of substantially the same type or form as the dog 8 of the lever 6. Its size, at oppositesides of its center point is at variance. Accordingly either end may be brought into contact with the wire, although the end 18 is shown in Fig. 1 as active. The dog is removably fastened to the lever 5 as indicated at 18.

In operation, the wire, indicated 19, is laid between the abutment 7 and the dog 8 on the one hand and the mandrel 13 and dog 16 on the other, with the levers 6 and 5 respectively in engagement with a stop 29 and at right angles to the wire 19. By slightly moving the lever 6 away from the stop 29 about its pivot 10 the active end 11 is brought into firm contact with the wire at a point intermediate the lug 7 and mandrel 13 causing an indenture to be made in the wire at this point. lVith the indenture made the lever 5 is moved about its pivot axis in the path of a circle until that portion of the wire extended beyond the mandrel is bent back and upon itself and around the mandrel as indicated in Fig. 3, The desired eye or loop is thus formed. To adjust the mandrel 13 that wire of a difierent gage may be acted on it is only necessary that the ratchet 25 be moved and relocked with its second tooth in the position formerly occupied by the first. In doing this the active portion llof the mandrel is lifted above its previous plane and the portion 15 moved to the position formerly occupied by the portion 1 The dogs 8 and 16 are then reversed or shifted, to bring their short ends into active service whereupon the levers 6 and 5 are moved in sequence as before. The =movement or adjustment of the mandrel causes the loop formed in the wire to be made larger and the movement or adjustment of the dogs is such that larger wirecan .be fitted respectively between the abutment 7 and the .dog

8 and mandrel l3 and dog 16.

The stop 29, although it may be of any form desired, is preferably of the form shown. It is fastened as .at '30 to the bed 1, extended to one sideof the bed as at 28, bent at right angles toform the stop per se, and then :continued or extended :laterally .to ,act as a guide'beneath which the lever 6 is moved. Should adjustment of the stop be required (and it will be if thedogsare shifted) this adjustment can be effected by simply looseningrthe fastening means 30, moving the stop about said fastening means as an axis and then retightening said means as before. The means for fastening the dog :16 to the lever 5 is indicated at 17 and is substantially the same as the fastening means 9 for-the dog 8.

In the modification of Fig. 6 the lever 6 is pivoted'as at 31 and has formed upon its inner end a cam 32'. This cam is so related to the dog 33 that the latter is moved through manipulation of the lever 6. The dog 33 is also provided with a cam 34 and a wire engaging surface 35 and is pivoted to the plate as at 36 for movement as indicated by dotted lines. When it is desired to bend the wire, the lever 6 is pulled in a counter clockwise direction throwing the cam 32 against the adjacent face of the dog 33 whereby the latter is caused to move in a clockwise direction with the result that the end 35 of the dog is forced into engagement with the wire 19 in muchthe same manner as disclosed in connection with the preferred form of the device. The lever 6 and the dog 33 are held against return movement by friction. After indenting the wire by movement of the dog the lever 5 is carried through its cycle of operation to form the loop in the wire. Two pins 37 and 38, if desired, may be used as stops to limit the movement of the lever 5 and in consequence spread the bent end of the wire away from the unbent portion thereof.

Although I have described more or less precise forms and details of construction I do not intend to be understood as limiting myself thereto as I contemplate changes in form, the proportion of parts and the substitution of equivalents as circumstancesmay suggest or render expedient and without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In a wire bending machine, a bed plate, a mandrel, an abutment positioned at one side of the mandrel, a lever, an indentureforming dog carried by the lever and morable with it to indent the wire at a point intermediate the abutment and the mandrel, a second lever movable about the mandrel as an axis, and a loop-forming dog carried by the second lever and movable with it in a circular path above themandrel to bend the :wire inloop form, the two levers subsequent to the formation of the loop lying closely adjacent and at opposite sides of the abutment.- I

2. In a wire bending machine, a bed plate, a mandrel, a substantially wedged shaped abutment positioned at one side of the mandrel, the sharp end of the abutment pointingtoward the mandrel, a pivoted lever, an indenture-formingdog carried by the lever and movable with it to'indent the wire at a point intermediate the abutment and the mandrel, a second lever movable about the mandrel as an axis, and a loop-formingdog carried by and movable with the secondmentioned lever in a circular path about the mandrel for bending the wire in loop form, the two leversupon the formation of the loop lyingclosely adjacent and at opposite sides of the abutment with the wire extend.-

ed respectively between the indenture-forming dog and the abutment and between the loop-forming dog and the abutment.

3. In a wire bending machine, a bed plate, an abutment mounted thereon, a mandrel also mounted thereon, both the mandrel and abutment engaging the wire upon the same side although at different points, a lever, and a reversible indenture-forming dog car ried by the lever and movable with the lever into and out of contact with the wire, said contact being at a point intermediate the mandrel and the abutment and upon the opposite side of the wire from that engaged by the mandrel and the abutment that the indenture may be formed at the mentioned intermediate point.

4:. In a wire bending machine, a bed plate, a substantially wedge-shaped abutment mounted thereon for contact with the wire, an-indenture-forfi1ing dog mounted at one side of the abutment to form with the abutment a wire holding means, a mandrel, and a former movable about the mandrel for bending the wire in loop form around it, the free end of the wire, when bent, engaging the opposite face of the abutment from that engaged by the unbent portion thereof.

5. In a wire bending machine, a bed plate, an abutment mounted thereon, a mandrel also mounted thereon, both the mandrel and the abutment engaging the wire upon the same side thereof although at diflerent points, a lever, a reversible indenture-forming dog carried by the lever and movable into and out of contact with the wire, the contact being at a point intermediately of the mandrel and the abutment upon the opposite side of the wire from that engaged by the mandrel and abutment that the indenture may be formed at the mentioned intermediate point, a second lever, and a re versible dog carried by the second lever and movable with it in a circular path about the mandrel for bending the wire around it in loop form, the relative arrangement of the reversible dogs being such that the space between them and the mandrel is variable to accommodate wires of different gage. V

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HARRY B. SNELL.

Copies, this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

